Gate DeFi Daily Report ( October 17 ): Meteora launches MET Airdrop inquiry page; AAVE, MYX and others fall over 10%

On October 17, the crypto market experienced a significant pullback, with BTC price falling to around $105,000, while ETH remained flat at $3,700. Affected by the overall market downturn, the total DeFi TVL across the network dropped to $151.454 billion, with a 24-hour decline of 1.71%. Although decentralized exchanges (DEX) still maintain a high volume of about $22.222 billion, the prices of most DeFi protocol tokens have generally declined, with major tokens like UNI, AAVE, and MORPHO seeing drops of over 8%. Market sentiment is under pressure, with an overall bearish trend, and investors are taking a wait-and-see approach.

DeFi Market Overview

(Source: DeFiLlama)

Total DeFi TVL across the network: Today (October 17), the crypto market continues to pull back, with BTC currently trading around $105,000 and ETH hovering around the $3,700 level; the total DeFi TVL across the network is currently $151.454 billion, down 1.71% in the last 24 hours.

DEX 24-hour volume: approximately 22.22 billion USD, with the top three being: Uniswap (6.217 billion USD), PancakeSwap (3.207 billion USD), HumidiFi (1.926 billion USD).

Popular Protocols and On-Chain Performance

Based on TVL, the top ten DeFi protocol data is as follows:

(Source: DeFiLlama)

Among them, the top-ranked protocol data performances are as follows:

Aave: TVL approximately 39.503 billion USD, 24-hour fall of 2.52%;

Lido: TVL approximately 33.291 billion USD, 24-hour fall of 2.63%;

EigenLayer: TVL approximately 16.587 billion USD, 24-hour fall of 2.47%;

Ethena: TVL approximately 12.505 billion USD, 24-hour fall 0.98%;

ETH. fi: TVL is approximately $9.824 billion, with a 24-hour fall of 2.59%.

In addition, the top ten projects by protocol fees in the past 24 hours are as follows:

(Source: DeFiLlama)

Among them, Uniswap's protocol fees in the past 24 hours reached 9.18 million USD, second only to Tether (23.09 million USD); Jupiter's protocol fees in the past 24 hours reached 5.22 million USD, ranking fourth; Ethena ranked fifth with 4.16 million USD.

Project News Review

1. According to Bloomberg, Hyperliquid is currently controlled by a small number of insiders, raising questions about its level of decentralization. For supporters including Paradigm and Pantera Capital, it is both a bet on the future of digital finance and a reminder that the entire industry still operates outside of formal regulatory frameworks.

Essentially, Hyperliquid is a minimalist trading platform operated by a team of about 15 people at Hyperliquid Labs, based in Singapore. In accordance with industry practices, the website front end blocks U.S. users, but anyone can trade on the blockchain that supports it. The lack of identity verification is precisely its appeal, which also echoes an early pattern: rapidly growing trading platforms that adopt similar models often attract regulatory scrutiny quickly.

If we compare HLP to an engine, then the validation nodes are the control room. Hyperliquid has about 24 validation nodes, while the Ethereum network has over a million. Critics argue that this leads to excessive centralization of power. The Hyper Foundation controls nearly two-thirds of the staked HYPE — its native Token — thus having significant influence in validation node decisions and governance, although in several recent decisions, its nodes chose to abstain in respect of community consensus.

Kam Benbrik, the research head of the blockchain validation node company Chorus One, stated, “If you control more than two-thirds of the staking, you can essentially achieve control on-chain.” Currently, Washington's relatively lenient attitude provides room for Hyperliquid to grow. The question is, how much longer can it continue outside the regulatory spotlight.

2. According to official news, the Uniswap Web App has added support for the Solana network, with token swaps supported by Jupiter. In the future, it will expand cross-chain, cross-chain swaps, and Uniswap wallet support.

3. The official Twitter account of the Bitcoin Layer 2 network Merlin Chain announced that its BTCFi ecosystem continues to generate stable and sustainable returns across multiple chains, with income sources covering staking, liquidity, and yield protocols. According to the official plan, over 50% of the income will be used for the continuous repurchase of MERL tokens, and the related repurchase mechanism is already in operation and will be promoted long-term. The official emphasized that Merlin Chain's efforts in building BTCFi are not only about ecosystem expansion but also about returning the actual value of ecosystem growth to the community.

4. Keone Hon, co-founder of Monad, posted on X social platform stating, “MonadExplorer has added a staking feature.”

5. Nasdaq-listed company DeFi Development (DFDV) announced that it has increased its holdings by 86,307 SOL, with an average purchase price of $110.91. As of now, the company's total holdings of SOL tokens have risen to 2,195,926, valued at approximately $426 million.

6. a16z announced that it has invested $50 million in the Solana ecosystem staking protocol Jito through its cryptocurrency division. As a return on investment, the firm received a portion of Jito's cryptocurrency allocation, reportedly making it the largest single investment in Jito to date.

7. Robinhood US launches ASTER spot trading.

8. The Solana ecosystem liquidity protocol Meteora has announced the launch of the MET airdrop query page. The deadline for registering for the Liquidity Distributor NFT is 3 PM (UTC) on October 19, 2025. The LGE claiming date is October 23, 2025 (specific time to be determined). From the start of the claiming period, there will be approximately 6 months (until April 23, 2026) to claim the airdrop or NFT.

9. According to data from fees.pump.fun, Pump.fun spent 5,713.17 SOL (approximately 1.158 million USD) to repurchase 290.2 million PUMP the previous day. Since the repurchase of PUMP began on July 15, it has accumulated a repurchase value of approximately 140.6 million USD in PUMP tokens, reducing the total circulating supply by 8.672%.

10. The crypto angel investment platform Echo tweeted that “all those who have participated in investments on Echo are eligible to receive the Monad airdrop. Specific steps to apply will be posted on their website shortly.”

11. According to a report by CoinDesk, Visa released its latest report “Beyond Stablecoin Payments: Opportunities in On-Chain Lending,” redefining Decentralized Finance (DeFi) as “On-Chain Finance” and planning to establish infrastructure that connects traditional financial institutions with on-chain lending protocols. Visa positions itself as the data and custody layer connecting banks and the $670 billion stablecoin credit market.

According to the report, since 2020, the on-chain credit market has issued over $670 billion in stablecoin loans. Visa will not directly issue tokens or provide loans, but will focus on providing data, compliance, and infrastructure support to help banks and private credit funds access automated lending protocols.

12. According to official news, Stable announced a partnership with MorphoLabs to provide lending solutions for its ecosystem. Its digital payment application Stable Pay will integrate the lending network of Morpho, which has over $12 billion in deposit funds, to break down the barriers between payment and yield.

Overview of Major Eco-Chain Leaders in Decentralized Finance Projects

Solana DEX 24-hour volume ranks first, approximately 5.949 billion USD, with a week-on-week growth of 37.23%, among which the top three projects are:

HumidiFi ($1.926 billion), Meteora ($1.277 billion), Orca ($869.2 million);

Ethereum DEX 24-hour volume ranks first, at approximately 5.905 billion USD, with a week-on-week growth of 39.92%. The top three projects are:

Uniswap ($3.705 billion), Fluid ($1.052 billion), Curve Finance ($354.91 million);

BSC DEX ranked third in 24-hour trading volume, approximately 3.929 billion USD, with a week-on-week decline of 3.92%; the top three projects are:

PancakeSwap ($2.635 billion), Uniswap ($774.32 million), four.meme ($172.97 million).

Gate DeFi section token market data

According to the Gate market page data, the price performance of the top ten tokens in the DeFi sector is as follows:

(Source: Gate DeFi sector market)

As of October 17, the crypto market has once again been hit hard, with DeFi sector tokens falling in unison, specifically:

UNI is currently priced at 5.98 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 8.42%;

AAVE is currently priced at 207.79 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 13.21%;

WLFI is currently reported at 0.1258 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 9.5%;

MORPHO is currently reported at 1.64 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 14.86%;

INJ is currently at 7.98 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 11.46%;

MYX is currently reported at 2.75 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 11.04%;

CRV is currently at 0.5066 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 7.44%;

SYRUP is currently reported at 0.3705 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 10.88%;

FF is currently reported at 0.127 USD, with a 24-hour fall of 7.14%.

Market Trend Interpretation

The overall market is experiencing a pullback, and the DeFi ecosystem is generally declining

On October 17, the total DeFi TVL across the network fell to $151.454 billion, reflecting a more pronounced trend of capital outflow from the market after undergoing a round of adjustments. The TVL of mainstream protocols such as Aave, Lido, and EigenLayer also experienced declines, with the 24-hour drop generally exceeding 2%. Such performance reveals a decrease in market risk appetite, with investors showing reduced demand for high-risk assets.

Although the DEX volume is high, market sentiment is sluggish

Despite the total volume of DEX reaching $22.22 billion, projects like Uniswap, PancakeSwap, and HumidiFi remain relatively active, although their volume has declined compared to earlier periods. Especially for Solana's Meteora and Ethereum's Uniswap, although the volume remains high, market sentiment appears to be cautious, reflecting investors' wait-and-see attitude during the short-term pullback.

DeFi Tokens Generally Fall, Investor Sentiment Pressured

Due to the overall sluggish market, major DeFi tokens have generally faced sell-offs. UNI fell by 8.42%, AAVE dropped by 13.21%, while MORPHO experienced a decline of 14.86%. This significant downward trend indicates a sharp decrease in market demand for risk assets, especially under the current macroeconomic conditions.

The development of cross-chain and liquidity protocols is steadily advancing

Despite the market downturn, several important projects are still actively positioning themselves. For example, the Uniswap Web App has added support for the Solana network, providing new opportunities for ecological expansion; Meteora has launched a MET airdrop query page, further strengthening its cross-chain liquidity protocol; in addition, Merlin Chain continues to promote its BTCFi ecological income buyback plan, providing returns for long-term holders.

Analyst Views

The market is under pressure, and the short-term pullback has not yet ended

Analysts point out that the current market is still in a correction phase, and the pullback of DeFi protocols and tokens may continue, especially under the price pressure of BTC and ETH, making it difficult for overall market sentiment to recover quickly. It is expected that the DeFi sector will still face significant selling pressure in the short term, and investors need to remain cautious.

Long-term optimism for opportunities in DeFi infrastructure and cross-chain protocols

Although the current market is sluggish, analysts emphasize that innovations in DeFi infrastructure and cross-chain protocols remain important investment directions in the long term. The cross-chain development of decentralized trading platforms like Uniswap and the synergy between the Solana and Ethereum ecosystems are all important signals for the future recovery of the market.

Repurchase mechanism and airdrops remain attractive

Projects like Merlin Chain and Meteora attract user participation through continuous token buyback and airdrop mechanisms, injecting momentum into the market. Analysts believe that these projects' incentive measures will remain attractive in the coming quarters and may bring considerable returns to coin holders when the market rebounds.

Conclusion

Currently, the DeFi market still faces significant pullback pressure, with major protocols and tokens generally declining. However, innovation and infrastructure development in the market continue to advance, providing potential opportunities for long-term investors. With the development of cross-chain technology and the implementation of buyback mechanisms, the DeFi ecosystem still possesses resilience, making it worth paying attention to market changes in the coming months.